Dungeon Desk Pad

Saturday, 26 February 2011

The bad news is that the cover price is going up to a heady $2.50. This is mainly due to the size of the magazine. I originally planned for each issue of Oubliette to be 18-24 pages long, but it has consistently been much longer than that.

The good news is that as a thank-you to everyone who has supported the magazine by buying it, reviewing it, and generally offering encouragement, Issue 5 will be available for free download from rpgnow.com until the end of March.

Here's an advance look at the contents:

• Tales from Hell – Words of Wisdom from the Soothsayer• Monster Club #8 – The Monstermark System for Labyrinth Lord• The Vampire – 12 Pages of Alternative Rules for Creating Labyrinth Lord Vampires• Good Shop/Bad Shop – Mad Varto's• What's on the Battlemat? – Dungeon in a Box• PC for PCs – A Very un-PC Approach to Dealing with Paladins• What's in the Oubliette? – A Selection of Gaming and Other Reviews• Mouse Watch – Our Heroes Enter a Storytelling Contest• The Song of Sithakk – Part 5 of our Serialized Story• Plus Bonus Material comprising: Cleric Spell Cards for Labyrinth Lord and Blank Vampire Record Sheets

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

Why not celebrate with your players by dropping one of these into an adventure?

Giant Groundhog

No. Enc: 1d2 (1d6)

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 120' (40')

Armour Class: 6

Hit Dice: 2-4

Attacks: 1 (bite)

Damage: 2d4

Save: F2

Morale: 8

Hoard Class: VII

XP: 20/50/80

The groundhog or woodchuck is a husky, waddling rodent, belonging to the marmot family. Their fur is red or brown, with black or dark brown feet. Giant groundhogs are large beasts, measuring 4-6 feet in length, and weighing up to 200 pounds. The maximum size they reach depends entirely on the food supply in their territory. Their diet is mostly herbivorous, comprising wild grasses and other vegetation, and berries and agricultural crops when available. They will also eat eat grubs, snails, and even small animals if they are able to catch them.

They have a plump body, a broad head, and small, erect ears. The tail and legs are short, while the fingers and toes have strong claws, useful for digging. When riled, groundhogs can run as fast as a person, but they are normally slow, waddling animals, tending to stay close to the safety of their burrows. Their natural habitat is at the edge of a forest or in rough grasslands. Giant groundhogs are enthusiastic diggers, their burrows are particularly large, with up to 200 yards of tunnels and several entrances. This excavation can pose a serious threat to any structures above by undermining their foundations.

Giant groundhogs will aggressively defend their burrows and young. If encountered in the open, they will only normally attack if cornered without access to a burrow entrance.